Box Score
ST. LOUIS, Missouri – Fontbonne University limited the high scoring Prairie Fire to six points in the final three minutes and held on for a 93-88 non-conference victory on Saturday.

Knox (2-2) was seeking its first three-game winning streak since the 2001-02 season.  The Prairie Fire chipped away at a 26-13 deficit with about 11:00 remaining in the first half.  Knox went on an 11-0 run over a 90 second stretch to take a 42-38 lead with 4:15 left in the opening stanza.

Fontbonne (2-1) knotted the score at 42 at the 3:44 mark before the Prairie Fire scored five straight points.  A layup by first-year Carley Bechen (Eugene, OR, Churchill) and a 3-point basket by junior Saundra Gavazzi (Gilbert, AZ, Chandler) on back-to-back possessions fueled a 10-4 surge that led to a 52-46 halftime lead.

The Griffins began the second half with eight straight points to reclaim the lead, 54-52.  Knox followed with baskets by first-year Erin Orr (Chicago, IL, Oak Park-River Forest) and sophomore Molly Lascelles (Ipava, IL, VIT) to grab a two point advantage with 16:41 to play.

The Prairie Fire extended the lead to 64-58 on consecutive 3-pointers by junior Jasmine Binion (Davenport, IA, Assumption) and senior Jessica Howard (Galesburg, IL, Galesburg) with about 13:00 remaining.  Fontbonne answered with seven unanswered points for a 65-64 lead two minutes later.

The first of two made free throws by Howard tied the game for the 12th time, and her second put Knox on top 82-81 with 3:02 to go. The Griffins pushed to an 85-82 lead, but two straight buckets by Orr gave the visitors their eighth lead of the afternoon, 86-85, with 1:35 left in the contest.

A layup and a pair of free throws gave Fontbonne the lead for good.  The Prairie Fire drew within a point at 89-88 on a basket by senior Jodi Marver (Northbrook, IL, Glenbrook North) with 49 seconds on the clock.  The Griffins sealed the win with four straight free throws in the final 15 seconds.

Knox converted on only 4-of-12 free throw attempts in the second half and finished 17-of-28 from the stripe while shooting 38 percent from the floor overall.  Fontbonne shot 44 percent from the floor and 29-of-44 from the foul line, including 19-of-26 free throws in the second half.

The Prairie Fire received a strong contribution from the bench and outscored the Fontbonne reserves 43-29.  Knox also held a 35-27 edge in points off of turnovers.

Marver led four Knox players in double figure scoring with 21 points.  She is just nine points away from 1,000 in her career.  Howard added 14 points while Lascelles and Binion came off the bench to score 12 points apiece.  Orr led the Prairie Fire on the glass with six rebounds.

Knox resumes Midwest Conference play at Monmouth College on Wednesday at 5:30.  The Fighting Scots (1-3, 0-2 MWC) fell 89-80 at Grinnell College in their last game on November 25.